The Vampire in Our Schools: 3 Ways Schools Are Killing Student’s Curiosity
In middle school, I was an academic failure. I would have barely passed biology. However, my teacher allowed me to pass because I would drop biology in the upper grades.
I barely scraped by biology and politics and even failed computer science.
But now, here I am studying Cognitive Science with Neurobiology and programming my way through life. I read more newspapers and listen to political podcasts than my teachers ever guessed.
Why was I so bad at the subjects I am now passionate about?
Schools are like vampires, with a thirst for the curiosity of students. But, unfortunately, they drain every excitement from your soul, leaving you feeling like a zombie.
At least I had computer games I was excited about. I’d lose myself in digital worlds for hours after school, fighting off other players online.
It was a welcoming escape from the monotony of school. But I did enjoy school for the company. Being around my friends.
Humans, especially children, are naturally curious — , the way most schools function tends to destroy this innate curiosity.
So what do schools do to drain the student’s curiosity?
Limits
Classes are age-limited. The students are all the same age but at different levels of development. Some are behind in math, while others need to be challenged more.
It can be frustrating for those who need help understanding the material to know that the next topic is coming up next week, especially if they did not understand the previous one.
For those who find math easy, it can become dull and unchallenging.
Both groups can become frustrated and disinterested in maths.
This creates a universal problem: A curiosity-thirsty vampire in the room with no escape for students.
Alternative System
School classes should be organised according to skill level precisely to your level of performance. In doing so, there may be a 3-year age difference among students. So what? If they are all similarly skilled, it will continue strengthening curiosity and the desire for math.
This applies to all subjects.
Grades
A particular hurdle awaits those who do not understand the material:
An exam.
Then they get a bad grade, which says precisely:
You are not good enough. What you have shown here is not enough. The others in the class are better.
Does that motivate a student to learn more next time?
Certainly not!
And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, a few months later, the next exam is coming up with new topics.
Bad grades are the teeth of the vampires. They suck out the joy of the subject itself and reinforce the different skill levels in the class.
Receiving positive feedback for a good grade can bring joy and make learning worthwhile. It’s like not losing much blood to the vampire. The more blood that is sucked out of you, the weaker and less motivated you become.
This system leaves some behind and destroys their natural curiosity. Instead, those who struggle should be brought closer to the joy of the subject through playful and more manageable tasks. Curiosity for the subject must be aroused. Only then can one learn sustainably and become proficient.
Joy of Learning
I remember that in computer science, at the age of 14, I had a teacher who enjoyed teaching.
We moved a hamster through a labyrinth with simple commands like turn() and move(), which had to collect seeds. It was gratifying to write a program that could solve any labyrinth.
In the next semester, we were supposed to create our own website according to our ideas. We could fully express our creativity. I was good at it!
Why? Because it was fun and I learned playfully.
I used to sit for hours in the afternoon and work on the hamster and the website — a welcoming change to my computer-games-laden afternoons!
A few years later, we had a computer science teacher in high school who did not convey the joy of programming at all. For example, we were supposed to memorise complicated data structures. I did not know why I needed that. Nor did I have any pleasure in learning the stuff — I failed this class.
Explaining the benefits of acquiring new knowledge to motivate learning is essential. And the best way to do that is through playful methods.
Explaining too much
As I wrote in the article on Active Engagement:
Lectures are passive. They take away the joy of learning.
Especially in school, many students get the feeling:
‘I am only here because I have to be. And I should sit here and be quiet.’
How can joy arise from that?
Forcing children in their prime age to sit on a chair for a large part of the day?!
It feels like a punishment!
It leads to feelings of stress: ‘I hope the teacher does not call on me. I was not paying attention. I want to get out of here!’
School should be fun and foster curiosity and the joy of learning. However, instead of strengthening these qualities, school often weakens them.
Escape Room
Have ever been in an escape room? Its fun solving the riddles yourself, right?
Now imagine the instructor guides you in the room and explains to you where the riddles are and what approach you need to solve them. Is it still fun?
There is a fascinating study
In this study, there were two groups of children.
One group had to search for several toys and then try them out. The teacher said nothing. They just watched.
Some toys were equipped with different lights, others with mirrors, etc. So naturally, the children were curious and eager to discover all of their features.
The second group of children were shown the toys and had their use explained to them by the teacher before being given the toys to play with.
Which group played longer and found more features of the toys?
By far, the first!
What was wrong with the second?
The students thought: okay, the teacher has probably explained everything about the toy. So there is nothing new to discover about it.
It would be better for the teacher to admit that they do not know everything and to let the children discover things themselves.
This is not possible with the most common teaching method: frontal instruction.
Instead of lecturing, encourage student engagement by forming groups. They can play games like “Question Masters” or prepare small presentations.
There are many techniques to pique students’ curiosity.
Let’s save the students from the vampires!
Thank You!
With that, I conclude this article. I gained a lot of inspiration and information from the book “How We Learn” by Stanislas Dehaene, which I have recommended in the past.
Clap if you enjoyed reading the article :) See you next time!
This article fits in the series ‘The Neuroscience of Learning’.
Check out the articles: